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October 29, 2008

Confusion On The Ground

I turned on WS 5 in the fifth inning and sheets of rains were falling. I could not believe the umpires were allowing the game to continue. Tampa Bay scored the tying run in the top of the sixth inning (I'm sure the umps heaved a sigh of relief) and out came the tarp. They could not resume the game last night, so the remainder of Game 5 is now set for tonight.

Reading this SoSH Thread about Bud Selig (as well as the lengthy WS thread starting here), I have to admit that I cannot paint the Used-Car Salesman as the huge idiot I usually do.

Once the game began -- was everyone fooled by a conservative weather forecast? -- Selig followed the rule book. There seems to have been a genuine failure to communicate between Selig, umpires, team officials, managers, players, media, and fans about how the game would be treated if it was delayed/suspended. I will also state that a World Series championship should never be decided by a game that lasts fewer than nine innings.

The Phillies clearly have the advantage for the rest of Game 5. They get to bat first and they get to bat last. Obviously, the game should have been suspended much earlier than it was. But that cannot be undone. And while it would be in violation of the rules, I'm wondering if the best solution is to wipe out what was played of Game 5 and simply start the game over.

182 comments:

Selig said after the game that had the Phillies been ahead 2-1 in the sixth when the tarp went on the field, they would not have been awarded the win, and that the game had to go nine innings (despite what the rule book says).

A better question to ask: Had Carlos Pena made out instead of tying the game with a single in the top of the sixth, would the umps have let the game go on?

Looking through the rules, there doesn't seem to be any basis for tossing out the score and starting over. The game could've been called after five innings but wasn't -- there's no way to go back now.

It's a suspended game under 4.11(d)(1) and has to get completed at a future date under 4.12(a)(5)(i). Rule 4.12(d) specifies how suspended games get played (resumed at the exact moment of suspension, with lots of elaboration), and it doesn't permit a do-over.

If that weren't enough, the note to Rule 4.12 says: Any regulation game called due to weather with the score tied (unless situation outlined in 4.12 (a) (5) (i) prevails) is a tie game and must be replayed in its entirety. Rule 4.12(a)(5)(i) is precisely what applies here, so no replay.

MLB's mistake was letting the game start at all or letting it progress far enough to become a regulation game under 4.12(b). Once that happened, resuming the game tonight is their only option under the rules.

I don't have a problem resuming the game in the bottom of the 6th. They're going by the rulebook. What might need to change is how this situation is handled in the rulebook.

In the end it kind of evens out, if you think about it. The Rays get a, what some might call a cheap run, or a fraudulent run, in the top of the 6th as the elements prevented the players from playing to their full natural abilities.

So they get that run. The game is tied. We resume the game, begin at the bottom of the 6th, and the Phillies, as you said, get to bat first and bat last. Phillies pitchers will throw 3 innings while Tampa will need to throw 4 innings unless Philadelphia makes the bottom of the 9th unnecessary.

One way or another, tonight will be very, very interesting. A 3.5 inning sprint, all tied up... Don't know who will pitch, don't know who will lead off the inning (pinch-hitter for Hamels)... Can't use David Price immediately because his spot would come up in the 7th...

Never in World Series history has there been a 3.5 inning (regulation) game. Tonight we'll see one.

Had Carlos Pena made out instead of tying the game with a single in the top of the sixth, would the umps have let the game go on?

From what Selig stated post-game, he would have told the umpires to continue the game in the bad weather had Pena not singled home Upton to tie the score.

IMO, the game should never have begun - playing in cold weather is one thing, but playing in cold, WET weather is another. One slip may mean a groin pull or other injury that takes a key player out of the game.

"Selig, in perhaps his most disingenuous moment of the entire press conference, said, "These fans obviously came and bought tickets for a night game, so they deserve to come back and see a night game." Right. Because the scheduling of World Series games is done taking into account, first and foremost, the convenience of the attendees. Because fans have demanded 8:30 local time starts for years. Because when World Series games are played in the Pacific time zone, MLB gives a rip about those people's work schedules."

The game will be a night game because Fox says so, and for Selig to sit there and say what he said insults everyone's intelligence. Just be honest and say that the game will be a night game because MLB doesn't control its own scheduling. As if the city of Philadelphia, and people holding tickets wouldn't be perfectly happy with a 7 p.m. start. Or 2 p.m. Or 9 a.m. That comment, to me, was the worst thing said last night, and goes a long way toward letting the world know who runs baseball.

So, the way the current rules are written... a game that is less than five innings old, if the rain stops the game and they can't resume, would be replayed in its entirety at a future date.

A game that goes longer than five innings where one team is leading another ends as an official game.

A tie game after five innings is suspended and will resume at a later date.

Correct? If so, it sounds like that needs to change.

Of course, a lot of things need to change. Television inflexibility, etc., start times, how the games are broadcast, making the games more available to those without cable, etc. Psst. There still are people who don't have cable television.

Sort've. It's a bit like the infield fly rule: it's supposed to get called a certain way, but it still has to get called that way in order for it to happen. The rules currently permit an indefinite rain delay.

NW New Jersey (not where I am) had a few inches of snow yesterday - lots of downed trees and power outages.

Speaking of weather, I was at Game 3 on Saturday (I'd signed up for the lottery to buy tickets on the Phillies' site a few weeks ago) -- not pleasant! But an exciting game, although I think I'm more excited about having seen it now than I was at the time.

As much as I am indifferent with respect to who wins the Series, I think it would be wrong for the Phillies to win the Series based on a 3 and half inning game where they get 3 more outs than the other team. I hope the Rays win this one.

That's one guy who I feel very happy for. Struggles in Boston, gets DFA'd, goes to Philadelphia, pitches well, earns a set-up role... and now gets to feel the joy of winning a world series for himself.

Maybe Fox will figure out a way to have all elimination/clinching games spread out over two nights like this so that they don't end so late. 'Cause, of course, it's not like starting them earlier is an option.

Nice to see everyone for a couple of hours, see you during the off-season!